Wednesday, February 13, 2013

Meet Stormy

By Bethany

Stormy, our black, Mini Rex Doe

This is Stormy, our oldest doe. This spring will be her 4th birthday, so in rabbit years, that's about late thirties. :) Officially she is my rabbit (Becca and I share the bucks, Steve and Simon), but we share the profits from all the litters.

Stormy is very sweet and laid back. She's content to bask in the sun, or run around the pen and help Steve with the construction of their various holes about the pen, which she enjoys very much.

Here she is in her tunnel

Stormy has been a very good mother to 5 litters so far, and is always very patient with us when we poke our heads into the nest and play with the little ones.

Litter #1

(from left to right: Basil, Ivy, Kale, and Licorice)

We were so excited to peak in the nest box one evening and find, buried under mounds of soft fur, four, squirming, squeaking baby rabbit kits. They all looked like their father Oreo (may he rest in peace). In this picture, they are about three weeks old.

Litter #2

(Austin & Jaime)

Her next litter was surprisingly small, with only two kits (an average mini rex mama rabbit has 5-6 kits per litter). Austin looked like Papa, and Jaime was a beautiful blue w/ silver ticking. In this picture, they are almost four weeks old.

Third litter, three kits + one. Finally some mini Stormys. :) Little Steve (son of Julie + Steve) fit right in, and whether Stormy noticed the extra mouth to feed or not (rabbits can't count), he became part of the family.

Only a little over a week old in this picture, their eyes could open, but they were all just too sleepy.

More mini Oreos, plus one little broken blue. Four kits has been Stormy's largest litter so far, and probably ever, since she is older for a breeding rabbit. In this picture they are about two weeks old.

Litter #5

(Pete & Ellie)

This is Stormy's most recent litter. Their father was Steve, and they had the most perfect Rex fur, very thick and velvety. Again, a small litter, but then there is no one to feel left out when Becca and I each hold one. :)

We will be breeding Stormy in about a month, so it will be fun to see what colors we get with her + Steve again.